Santa Claus makes his way to Sycamore

SYCAMORE – Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were welcomed by hundreds of children and parents as he rolled into downtown Sycamore on Friday night.

The Ratfield twins, Max and Charles, age 4, were two of the children who were excited to see St. Nick come to town in a Sycamore fire-truck. However, when asked what they wanted for Christmas, both Max and Charles said, “I don’t know.”

The Ratfield twins saw Santa with their friend Hunter Hoerchler and his mother, Elizabeth. Unlike his friends, Hunter knew exactly what he wanted.

“Skylanders. They’re one of my favorite things because they fight,” Hunter Hoerchler said.

Skylanders refers to a toy line based off of the video game, “Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure.”

Elizabeth Hoerchler said this is her family’s second time attending “Santa Comes to Sycamore.”

The last time Isabella Tallitsch, 3, of Sycamore, saw Santa Claus, he woke her up Christmas Eve night and said “ho, ho, ho.” In addition to asking for Barbie dolls and Disney toys, she said she’s going to ask him to be her friend, even if “he’s too big for the house.”

“She’s very excited about seeing Santa Claus,” said Jennifer Tallitsch, Isabella’s mother, adding that both of her daughters spoke to Santa via cellphone.

All of the children said they had been good this year, although Max said, “Yes, but sometimes no,” when asked if he listened to his parents.

Abigael Staggs, 10, said her good behavior this year merited getting a tablet computer for Christmas.

“At school, I’m being more responsible, more polite and more participating in my education. And I’ve been helping mom and dad,” Abigael said. “I think I’ve been good.”

She has no preference on what kind of tablet she gets, so as long as it has the ability to play the games “Temple Run” and “Cut the Rope.”

Her younger brother, Jeremiah, 4, said he wanted a stethoscope for Christmas. His parents said he watches the show “Doc McStuffins” on the Disney channel all the time. In the show, the main character fixes toys and stuffed animals with the help of a magical stethoscope, which causes the toys and stuffed animals to come to life.

The Staggs family also is very excited to see Santa Claus.

“It’s exciting,” said Tanya Staggs, Jeremiah and Abigael’s mother. “They get to see Santa, sit on his lap, and get that out of the way early in the season.”

If you go

Children have the opportunity to see Santa in his vacation home in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore. He'll be taking visitors from Friday to Dec. 23.

His hours are: Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m.; Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 2 p.m.